The weekly messenger., 1887-09-03
THE MYSTERIES OF A DAY.
NOTABLE EVENTS WE FIND RE-
CORDED II THE PAPERS.
The Ax-Handlc-On M:. Whitney
a Forest OF Tcak-A FreaI Of
Lightning, Etc, Etc.

11uTNlaH tilt I@lD.lSI HIS
come into possession, among other nat
ural treasures, of immense forests Of
teak, which, never very plentiful in In
dia, was becoming commercially quite
rare, and consequently of increased
eost for industrial purposes. Of all the
woods grown in the East this has been
pronounced as, i'll some respects, the
most valuable. This superiority con-
sists in its being neither too heavy nor
too hard: it does not warp nor split
under exposure, no matter how prolonged
to heat or dampness; it contains an es-
sent;al oil which possesses the rare prop
erty of preventing the wood from rot
tins under wet conditions, and, at the
same time, act as preservative of iron,
and repels insects; it is, in addition, a
handsome wood, of several varieties of
color and grain, and takes good polish.
URIAH RINKER, farmer near Tan
nersville, Pa, was cleaning his saddle
horse on Friday when the barn was
struck by lightning and the horse in
stantly killed. Rinker was knocked
senseless to the floor, and when he be-
came conscious was surrounded by
flames and all means of escape nearly
cut off. BY desperate effort he man
aged to catch hold of the door sill and
drag himself from the burning building.
Just as lie crossed the sill his wife
rushed to his assistance, and dragged
him to a place of safety. His clothing
was then ablaze, and the heat from the
fire was so intense that Mrs Kinker's
arms and hands were blistered. The
watch in his pocket was destroyed by
the lightning. and three long gashes
were made Ill a new boot on his foot.
SHERIFF ROBERTS, Of HartC County, Ga,
was awakened from n sound sleep the
other night by the clammy touch of a
huge snake which crawled directly over
his face. The reptiles belly felt like q
big icicle. according to the Sheriffs ac-
e99at q the INCIDENT, IJ seemed to
take at least an hour in passing. Finally,
30 his great relief, the reptile drew its
Shiny length away, and the Sheriff
struk light and tried to find it. But
the snake had disappeared, and after
few minutes search Mr.. Roberts went
back to bed. In the morning the ser
want, while making up the bed, found
chicken snake, six feet long, coiled up
between the feather bed and the mat
tress.
IL Mexico hotels the "chambermaid,"
who Is usually a man, does the work
about this way: He takes possession of
the key, unlocks the door and disap-
pears. After while he comes back,
turns down the bedclothes and goes off.
The next time he comes in he partially
completes the bed-making, but leaves in
great hurry, as if he had suddenly re-
membcred something. After the sixth
visit the Mexican retires with his dust
brush, and il is pretty safe to wager he
will only come back once more, and that
to bring a clean towel. After he has
done this for an hour or two, he is so
worn out that he spends the rest of the
day in talking a siesta.
Mr.. JoHy RIPPLE, who die;i II Ogle,
Pa, recently, Mt the age of 81 years,
was noted citizen of the place, where
he was best known as "Old johnny
Ripple" Large stories are told of his
strength and agility. 1t is said that
when he was III his prime he could kick
tinware from a store ceiling eleven feet
above the floor. Once, when rafting on
the Monongahela river, the raft was
wrecked, and he escaped by jumping
over twenty-five feet to q rock, from
which he was rescued. He would place
four and five hogsheads in row, jump
out of the first into the second, and so
on to the last, then jump backward to
the first, with apparent ease.
A TRAVELLING sleight-of hand man Wis
tied an Indian encampment near Lew
iston, Idaho, the other day. Seeing q
small dog he asked how much they would
take for him. The Indians said they
didn't want to sell. "Him very good
dog" said the magician, rubbing him
down the hack at each stroka TAXING a